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ATTLEBORO -- During their nearly 10 years of marriage, Braden and Hollie Andrews have worked toward buying a house that they could call their permanent family home.

Toward that goal, they have purchased and renovated two condominiums and a house, all progressively larger in size to accommodate their growing family.

Having occupied their current home at 260 Thurber Ave. for the past three years, Braden, a land surveyor with a Providence firm, and Hollie, a homemaker and nursing student, say they are now ready to make their final move.

As such, the Andrews, along with their three children, Wesley, 8, Lillian, 6, Carrigan, 3, will be moving to Wrentham, where Braden grew up and where they hope to be renovating their last home.

Of all the places they have called home, however, they say it will be the most difficult to leave their antique Colonial on Thurber Avenue. One of the things they say they will miss about the home is its long history.

According to the research Braden did on the home, it dates back at least as far as 1892, when Joseph W. Capron owned it, and when the property consisted of about 60 acres of farmland.

At that time, Braden says the property was listed as being located on Taunton Road, which was a state-owned road that later became Oak Hill Avenue.

At that time also, Braden says the driveway of the home was located at the corner of Thurber Avenue and Oak Hill Avenue.

About 15 years ago, the St. Pierre family, which owned the home for many years, sold most of the acreage, which has since become a housing development known as Valley Run, and the home is now located at the corner of Thurber Avenue and Valley Run Drive.

The Andrews say they will also miss the character of the home, which they retained as much as possible while making extensive renovations to the home.

``We love old homes,'' Braden said. ``There's much more character in a house like this than there is in a new house. There was just a lot of potential here, so, we enjoyed the house and did what we could do with it.''

In addition, they say the neighborhood has been another favorite feature that has completed the whole scene.

``It's been a great home,'' Hollie said. ``It's almost sad for us to go, but, we want to be at our last stop. We don't want to move again.''

Giving credence to the term ``blood, sweat and tears,'' the Andrews have done much of the work in the home themselves, from removing all of the horsehair plaster walls to painting the newly created walls. Renovations have also included new ceilings, new woodwork, new six-raised panel doors, new windows and a new full bath on the second floor.

The renovations begin at the left side of the home, where they have added a curved walkway made of paver blocks, which leads to a porch they also added.

The porch leads to a square foyer they have created out of what was once believed to be half of a double parlor.

On the left wall of the foyer, they have added a large window, with window seat below and flanked by two new closets. Adding her signature touch to the space, Hollie has made window valances, seat cushion and pillows complementary to one another in shades of cream, burgundy and gold.

In the center of the room, they have added a white ceiling medallion and installed the brown wrought iron chandelier, with frosted glass shades, which had been hanging in the dining room when they purchased the home.

To the right, the Andrews have added French doors in a natural wood finish, as is the finish they have chosen throughout the first floor.

The doors also feature fluted sides and upper rosette corners, as does most of the doorway woodwork the Andrews replaced. The woodwork is in keeping with the style of the original woodwork, which as Braden points out, they replaced because it contained several layers of what they believed was lead-based paint.

The French doors lead to the other half of the original double parlor, which they now call their family room. Here they have added surround sound and a decor of pale green carpeting over hardwood, beige walls, and complementary window treatments made by Hollie.

The foyer also leads straight ahead to a large square room the Andrews use as their living room and to the dining room beyond that.

Having widened the open doorway from the foyer, the Andrews have created an impressive view, which extends through the dining room.

Center of activity

Featuring some of the character the Andrews enjoy, the living room is open on all sides to different areas of the home, yet offers a very cozy atmosphere. So much so, in fact, that Hollie says this is the room where they have family meetings and enjoy family activities.

Among the activities enjoyed in the living room is Braden's playing of the family piano.

As a tribute to history, the Andrews have hung above the piano framed photographs of the home and neighborhood in its earlier days, and have hung their own antique family photographs on another wall.

One of the most attractive features of the living room-dining room area is the fir floors, believed to be original to the home. The floors, which offer a reddish hue, Braden points out, were in excellent condition when they purchased the home.

Enhancing the warm tone of the floor, the Andrews painted the dining room walls a mustard yellow and have added another brown wrought iron chandelier above their farmers table.

In a shade of burgundy, a half wall continues the warm tones, and serves as a divider between the dining room and kitchen.

The kitchen offers ample maple cabinetry, which previous owners had added, and includes black appliances and a laundry area.

The second floor offers four bedrooms and the new full bath. Each of the children's rooms are decorated with a special theme, the most impressive of which is Carrigan's room in which Hollie custom-painted an already painted floor to look like grass, with a pink latticework area. She also added custom borders and painted clouds on sky blue walls.

The property is listed for $349,900 with Irene Levesque at Century 21, Heritage Real Estate Group at 508-384-3360 and can be viewed during an open house from 1-3 p.m. Sunday.

LOVE YOUR HOME? Is your house special -- either in design, decor or historical significance? If so, we'd like to feature it on our weekly Great Homes pages. Contact Janette Sears by phone or fax at 508-222-2442, or via e-mail at jsears@thesunchronicle.com